London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Union in dispute with some of its own staff over pay and home working

Union in dispute with some of its own staff over pay and home working

Exclusive: Office staff at Salford HQ of Usdaw – who are represented by GMB union – reject pay offer
One of the UK’s biggest trade unions is facing potential strike action from some of its own staff in a dispute over pay and home working, a threat that the union’s general secretary has condemned as unnecessary and self-indulgent.

In a bitter internal wrangle at one of the unions most strongly supportive of the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, office staff at the Salford headquarters of Usdaw, which represents retail workers, have rejected a pay offer from the union of 3.5%.

The Usdaw employees, who are represented by the GMB union, are also seeking a commitment over potential home working, which staff say is not permitted.

But Paddy Lillis, the general secretary of Usdaw, the full name of which is the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, said the full value of the pay offer was above 11% if an extra £1.3m committed to the union’s final salary pension scheme was taken into account.

Lillis said the dispute involved fewer than 100 of the union’s 400 staff, and that those represented by two other internal organisations had agreed to the union’s pay offer.

Lillis said he was “absolutely livid” with the GMB organisers involved, arguing that the discussions over home working should have been separated from those about pay.

“You’re asking me to change your contract of employment so some of you can work from home,” he said. “To me it’s an issue of policy, and I’ve asked them to not put it on the wage claim, so we can look at it next year.

“My main priority is to get this union back firing on all cylinders. We’ve lost 70,000 members over the two years of the pandemic. Our members are low paid, and all had to go to work during the pandemic to keep the country moving. I’ve told them – pick your battles, and this isn’t one to pick.

“Working from home is not a simple matter. There’s all sorts of issues around health and safety, insurance and keeping the service to members. That’s why I said I’d look at it next year. I’m disappointed in the small number that are holding the rest to ransom. We can’t pay the increase until this is resolved.”

Those involved in the dispute, Lillis added, should consider the plight of many of the shopworkers represented by Usdaw: “Some of them can’t even afford to buy food in their own supermarket, and we’re going on strike when we’re all well paid with good terms and conditions, as you’d expect from a trade union. I’m absolutely livid with them.”

Last month, Lillis called for “a degree of silence” from other union heads who have criticised Starmer over what they said was his lack of support for striking workers.

Karen Lewis, an organiser for the GMB, said: “GMB members employed at Usdaw are in dispute. They are seeking a cost of living pay increase and have unanimously rejected an offer of 3.5%.

“Their claim is to reflect the growing financial insecurities we all face. Staff are also seeking a commitment to explore new ways of working. GMB remains open to finding a mutual resolution to the dispute.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×